Well-Being Baseline Study

Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach – March 2014

Naskapi Nation Well-being Baseline Study

General Project Information

Principle investigator - Robert Klinck, MA University of Guelph rklinck@uoguelph.ca (289) 253-8400

Academic Supervisor - Ben Bradshaw, University of Guelph bbradsha@uoguelph.ca (519) 824-4120 x58460

In partnership with - Department of Geography, University of Guelph (519) 824-4120

In partnership with - The Naskapi Nation Kawawachikamach, Quebec (418) 585-2686

In partnership with - Canadian Business and Ethics Research Network (CBERN) York University (416) 736-5809

Acknowledgements

This study was modelled after Peter Siebenmorgan and Dr. Ben Bradshaw’s successful work in Northern Ontario. I would like to express my appreciation to the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach, the band office, the development corporation, the McGill Subarctic Research Station, and Atmacinta. Many thanks must go to the steering committee, their willingness to give their time so generously has been greatly appreciated.

Study was made possible through funding by the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach, the MRC Caniapiscau’s Pacte Rural Program, Mitacs accelerate internship grant, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

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Executive Summary

The Naskapi Nation is a small, isolated Aboriginal community located in northern Quebec near the Labrador Border. Reachable only by air and rail, the community has been affected by major mineral development. Due to the rich mineral area surrounding the community extractive companies have begun to implement plans for further development. This has raised local concerns regarding the range of environmental and socio-economic impacts that may be caused by continued development.

The degree of current and proposed mineral activity near Kawawachikamach, and its related impacts upon the Naskapi, has created a necessity to produce a tool to track community well-being over time. This need is best accomplished by using community members at each step and indicators that are meaningful as well as relevant. More than simply describing community change from mining, this evidence establishes a footing for the community; it allows the chief and council to re-examine partnerships, negotiations, and make changes where appropriate. Time series evidence first begins with a baseline of well-being.

Background

Even prior to European contact, the Aboriginal population of Canada has been directly involved

in mining development. The first miners in Canada were Aboriginal communities who utilized

local minerals in the construction of tools, weapons, works of art, and other artefacts. Mining is

the extraction of valuable minerals from the earth, and current large scale projects often create

significant environmental and social changes to a surrounding area. Throughout Canada’s

history of mineral extraction, Aboriginal communities have been directly and indirectly

affected. To this day there is significant correspondence between the location of mining

operations and mineral deposits to Aboriginal lands and societies. Natural Resource Canada

(NRCan) states that close to 1200 Aboriginal Communities are found within 200km of mineral

and metal activities.

The Naskapi of northern Quebec are an excellent example of a community that is undergoing

an influx of new impacts. The Naskapi Nation of Kawawachimach (NNK) is found in the sub-

arctic of Quebec fifteen kilometres from Schefferville, where recently two mining firms

resurrected abandoned iron ore projects. These new mining developments have undoubtedly

affected and will continue to affect this remote and relatively small First Nation population.

Impact and Benefit Agreements (IBAS) have been formulated between the new mining firms

(Labrador Iron Mines Holding & New Millennium Iron Ltd/Tata Steel Minerals Canada) and the

Naskapi, to ensure the distribution of wealth and the mitigation of negative impacts.

Due to the measure and scope of the mineral developments in the Naskapi territory and the

associated impacts upon the physical landscape and the community it is essential to develop a

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tool to track community well-being over time. This crucial need is best obtained through the

use of community members at each stage of the process as well as the use of indicators that

are meaningful and relevant. Understanding community change in the context of mineral

development is essential, but more than this it offers a platform for the chief and council as

well as the community as a whole to reassess mineral development decisions and make change

if necessary. Tracking community change over time requires the initial step of establishing a

baseline of well-being.

Community Engagement

The Naskapi Nation were very concerned and wished to better understand how to respond to

new mining developments. The well-being project began with the Naskapi’s partnership with

the Canadian Business Ethics Research Network (CBERN). The NNK approached CBERN with a

request for assistance to comprehend the best ways to answer the impending impacts

associated with mining. CBERN and Dr. Ben Bradshaw proposed the well-being baseline study

to identify values that define the priorities of the community and track how these might change

over time.

To conduct a well-being study that correctly depicts the community’s conditions requires the

incorporation of meaningful local participants throughout all phases of the project. This close

association began with the project endorsement and initiation by the chief and council. Based

on their guidance as well as the direction from initial key informant interviews, multiple

individuals from the Naskapi Nation were identified as appropriate candidates who could serve

as a Steering Committee for this study. Six Naskapi members were recruited due to their

experience and knowledge of the community. The Steering Committee was formulated in

October, 2012 and has since offered guidance and input throughout each phase of the project.

NNK Well-Being Steering Committee

1. Ruby Sandy

2. George Guanish

3. Silas Nabinacaboo

4. Mannie Mameanskum

5. Minnie Guanish

6. Phil Einish

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Indicator Development and Survey Results

Community produced well-being indicators allow for survey generation and the production of a

meaningful baseline. The Steering Committee met for lengthy iterations to create indicators of local and

meaningful relevance. The indicators were generated from issues present in the well-being data and

were selected based on their ability to be monitored using a survey. The Steering Committees

knowledge and dedication produced an initial 95 indicators which was later refined to 60. The following

chart demonstrates the process undertaken by the steering committee and researcher. Values, hopes

concerns with commonalities were linked in order to create indicators that best represent the data

expressed by respondents.

Indicator Process

Survey Results

The survey clearly produced valuable data, explicitly identifying community values, hopes, and

concerns. The wellness of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples is frequently measured with narrow

biomedical terms which give limited concern to how wellness is conceptualized within

Aboriginal communities. The Well-Being Study has undoubtedly addressed this gap by creating

a baseline in collaboration with the Naskapi Nation. The following section highlights select

examples from various domains of the baseline study. Accompanying each example is an

artistic interpretation of the data, created by Elizabeth Jancewicz.

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H7 – Level of happiness Question: Best indicate your household’s level of happiness

*87% of respondent households describe their level of happiness as somewhat to very happy.

In the illustration, each individual represents approximately 14 households in the Kawawachikamach community. Ten people equal 100% of the community, or approximately 140 households. Five people (50% of the community) are very happy. Four people (40% of the community) are somewhat happy. One person (10% of the community) is undecided/unhappy/very unhappy.

Very Happy 50% Somewhat

Happy 37%

Undecided 9%

Unhappy 3%

Very Unhappy 1%

Level of Happiness

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HC2 – Need for repairs within home

Question: Best describe the current condition of your home.

*76% of respondent households describe the current condition of their home as needs repair

or very poor condition.

In this illustration, each house represents approximately 14 households in the community. Ten houses equal 100% of the community, or approximately 140 households. Two houses (20% of the community) are in very good/good condition. Seven houses (70% of the community) are in need of repair. One house (10% of the community) is in very poor condition.

Very Good Condition

6%

Good Condition

18%

Needs Repair 64%

Very Poor Condition

12%

Current home condition

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EL6 – Regular use of Naskapi at home

Question: How often is the Naskapi Language spoken in your household?

*90% of respondent households often or always speak Naskapi at home.

In this illustration, each individual represents approximately 14 households in the Kawawachikamach community. Ten people equal 100% of the community, or approximately 140 households. Nine people (90% of the community) always/often speak Naskapi regularly at home. One person (10% of the community) occasionally/rarely/never speaks Naskapi regularly at home.

Always 76%

Often 14%

Occassionally 6%

Rarely 1%

Never 3%

Regular use of Naskapi at home

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FM4 – Amount of time spent practicing traditional activities as a family

Question: During the last month, how many times did your family practice traditional activities

together?

*The average respondent household practices traditional activities as a family 2.25 times per

month. 54% of households spend no time per month practicing traditional activities as a

family.

In this illustration, the full page represents the community. The illustrated icons represent traditional Naskapi activities. In 50% of the page there are no icons; this indicates that 50% of the community does not practice traditional activities. In 30% of the page there are some icons that are clearly drawn; this indicates that 30% of the community practices some traditional activities. In 20% of the page there are many icons, but they are beginning to fade away; this indicates that 20% of the community practices a lot of traditional activities.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 30

# of households 63 14 12 1 11 5 2 1 2 1 1 3

0

20

40

60

80

Amount of time spent practicing traditional activities as a family

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GA3 – Level of participation in elections and referendums. Question: During the last 12 months, how many adult members participated in elections or

referendums?

*91% of respondent households had at least one adult member participate in elections and

referendums. 66% had at least two adult members.

In this illustration, each individual represents approximately 14 households in the Kawawachikamach community. Ten people equal 100% of the community, or approximately 140 households. Nine people (90% of the community) participated in elections and/or referendums this year. One person (10% of the community) did not participate in elections and/or referendums this year.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

# of households 12 35 45 28 12 1 2 2

0

10

20

30

40

50

Level of participation in elections and referendums

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EN2 – Quality and abundance of large game Question: How would you best describe the quality and abundance of large game (ex. caribou)

in the last 12 months?

*20% of respondent households describe the quality and abundance of large game as fair to

excellent over the last year.

In this illustration, the full page represents the Kawawachikamach community. The illustrated icons represent the abundance of large game (caribou). In 20% of the page there are very few to no icons; this indicates that 20% of the community has not seen any large game. In 60% of the page there are very few icons that are clearly drawn; this indicates that 60% of the community believes that the quality and abundance of large game is poor. In 20% of the page there are many icons, but they are beginning to fade away; this indicates that 20% of the community believes that the quality and abundance of large game is fair to excellent.

Excellent 5% fair

15%

Poor 62%

N/A 18%

Quality and abundance of large game

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OP3 – Availability of mine or related activity employment

Question: How many household members are currently employed by the mines or related

mineral activities?

*30% of respondent households have at least one member with employment at the mines or

related mineral activities.

In this illustration, each icon represents approximately 14 households in the Kawawachikamach community. Ten icons equal 100% of the community, or approximately 140 households. Three of the icons (30% of the community) are represented by mining machinery; this indicates that 30% of the households in the community have at least one person employed at the mines. Seven icons (70% of the community) are represented by people; this indicates that 70% of the households in the community do not have anyone working at the mines.

0 1 2 3

# with employment 97 32 6 3

0

50

100

150

# o

f re

spo

nd

en

ts

Number of household members with mine or related activity employment

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Ongoing Monitoring

The results from the survey have yielded useful outcomes in themselves, most specifically

through the identification of community values, hopes, and concerns in the context of mine

development. It is imperative to note that the foremost aim of this exercise is to construct a

baseline against which changes in well-being that are significant to the Naskapi Nation, such as

youth participation in traditional activities, can be realised. To enable the identification of

change in community conditions, a household survey should be completed every three to four

years.

Multiple officials within the NNK leadership have expressed their desire to continue with

Naskapi self-monitoring. Stella Pien, who works within the band office is responsible for special

projects in Kawawachikamach, has agreed to oversee future elements of the project. She will

take on the role of database manager and the data from the baseline study will be stored at her

workplace as well as future data sets. She will assume responsibility for inputting future results

and performing routine maintenance.

Tracking change over time

In addition to gathering and inputting future data sets, the database manager will be able to

highlight and visualize changes over time. Showcasing select indicators in time-series

representations will give the NNK leadership clear insight regarding Naskapi well-being. The

following is a hypothetical depiction of how data might be represented.